Minor planet named for Walled Lake Western student

Because Vipul Nandigala, 17-year-old Walled Lake Western High School incoming senior, won second prize at this yearís Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in May, he had a minor planet named after him. Photo submitted by Usha Nandigala

Because Vipul Nandigala, left, 17-year-old Walled Lake Western High School incoming senior, won second prize at this yearís Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in May, he had a minor planet named after him. He is the son of Norris Nandigala, center, and Usha Nandigala, right of Farmington Hills. Photo submitted by Usha Nandigala

Helping others

Vipul Nandigala, who recently had a minor planet named after him, started a math and science club at his school, Walled Lake Western High School.

The 17-year-old also tutors underprivileged children in India in science and math over summer breaks. He has raised funds for Nachiketa Tapovan, a school for underprivileged kids in India.

The teen also intends to donate his prize money for the benefit of underprivileged kids, according to his family.

Vipul Nandigala, Walled Lake Western High School incoming senior, can now look into the sky with pride after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Observatory announced a minor planet will be named after him.

Held in May in Los Angeles, the fair –– the world’s largest international pre-college science competition –– provides an annual forum for more than 1,700 top high school students from more than 70 countries.

Nandigala, a Farmington Hills resident, won second place award in physics and astronomy for his project, “An application of Dean’s flow in spiral micro channels for particle separation.” He has been a finalist at the fair three years, his family said.

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Winning the prize, he said, was “the most intense moment of my life.”

Nandigala is the second metro area student to have a planet named for him. He also won the grand prize at Michigan Science Fair in 2013 and 2014 and went on to represent Michigan at the Intel fair.

He took home the grand prize at the Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Being at the fairs, meetings scientists in his field, he said, “was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

Besides his interest in science, Nandigala is captain of his school ski team.

He enjoys skiing during winters and remote control car racing during summers, said his mother Usha, an engineer. He assembles and builds his own cars. His hobbies include playing chess and spending time with his two younger brothers.

Since childhood, said Usha, Nandigala has been an “avid scientific experimentalist, entering many science competitions.”

As a senior this fall, he will take half his courses at Wayne State University, concentrating in physics.

At Wayne State, he has been working with mentor Dr. Amar Basu in the microfluidics to understand fluid behavior at micro-scales smaller than human hair.

Nandigala envisions himself attending college where he would earn an engineering degree.

“I feel most comfortable in the lab,” he said, adding that he dreams of becoming a professor.

“I would like to do work that benefits the scientific and community in general creating something that would make a difference,” he said.